Update on Things

Sorry it took so long to post an update...

Dan is doing a lot better! It was not fluid around his heart, just extra fluid in general. The doctor changed up his medicine a bit more, and it has made a world of difference. His blood pressure has been normal the past few days, and his headaches have subsided.

Thank you for your prayers!

With all of this going on, it has really made me think about the near future. Leaving Kirkland's means losing our health insurance, and if you have seen prices on prescription medicine, you know what a new set of problems that creates.

So, my prayer since the whole beginning of the development of our ministry has been for the Lord to open doors that needed to be opened and close the ones that needed to be closed.

I hadn't planned on giving my notice until the end of December, so my district manager hasn't known anything of our plans. Long story short, he was in my store this week and asked me if I would consider moving to one of the stores in Arlington. Evidently, the manager there gave her notice and yesterday was her last day. He asked if my assistant was ready for my store, so I told him she would be after the holidays. He said that was fine because he wouldn't make any changes until January. I told him that this would be something I would consider.

I called Dan as soon as he left to ask him what he thought. He didn't say no, you're leaving at the end of January. He'd been praying, too.

I don't know anything concrete yet. I'm sure that I'll know more after Christmas. By the way, this doesn't change anything about our ministry. It is still in the works. It will just be a little different than what we first thought.

So...I'm asking for prayer once again. We want to be in the will of the Lord.

Thanks, friends.

Y'all Just Go Ahead and be Jealous...

I GOT SNOW ON THANKSGIVING!!!!!

Dan and I got to Mom and Dad's Wednesday night, and when we got up T-Day, it was snowing! It continued all day...big flakes that stuck to the ground! You know, sometimes it snows and the ground is too warm, it just melts and doesn't accumulate. Not today...we got about 3-4 inches!

We had a really wonderful day. We got to bring my Pa home from the nursing home for lunch. To say he enjoyed it is an understatement. He was going to town on the home cooking! He had pumpkin AND pecan pie for dessert, and when someone asked him if it was good, he said, "Yeah, boooyyyy!!!!" It was so cute!

My dad's sister, brother, and his wife were there, and as we sat around the table we began talking about old stories from when they were kids. Pa just sat there and listened with a big smile on his face. I wish he could have told us what he was thinking...I'm sure he had some stories of his own about us all!

It was a great day!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well! I am so thankful for each one of you. You all play such different yet vital roles in my life. I am blessed beyond measure. My cup runs over.

Thank you, Jesus, for all the blessings in my life. You are so good to me.

Random Thoughts

* I didn't get everything done that I wanted to on this, my last Saturday off. My wonderful nap won out!

* Nap or not, I'm posting this while doing laundry.

* I love wireless internet.

* I'm not holding my breath, but Tech is ahead of OU right now. Go Red Raiders!

* Not that I'm a wing connesseur (?) or anything, but I think Wing Stop is better than Buffalo Wild Wings.

* We have such talented, creative women in our church. Did you know that? Crys's shower today was so nice with such cute things and great food...even a craft project! Great job ladies!!!

* I got some baby-love at the shower today...thanks Ellie and Grant! Thanks, s and j for letting me love on your cuties! And that Jacob was a little ham today. He was cheesing it up for those pictures...so adorable!

* Pictures don't do a's house justice. It looks great! You did an amazing job! I need more of your patience and attention to the details! Loved your kitchen stuff, by the way! ;)

* On a more serious note, say a prayer for Dan. He hadn't been feeling well this week and went to the doctor on Thursday. It looks like he has fluid around his heart, so they changed his blood pressure medication to one that has a water pill mixed in with it. They are going to see if that helps. He started taking it on Thursday evening, and he goes back to the doctor Monday to see if there's been any progress. Pray the medication is doing what it needs to do.

* This week kicks off the first of many 6-day work weeks I will have through the holidays. We are required to work six days the week of Thanksgiving (T-Day being our day off), then six days every other week until Christmas. That's the requirement, but if the workload is such that we have to work six days the other weeks, as well, then we are encouraged to do so. The point is this: keep posting because it's likely that seeing you all will be sparatic until after Christmas!

* That's about it for now. The laundry is calling my name....

It's Not Because I'm Hot or Anything...

I'm running around in short sleeves with no jacket because all my long sleeves and jackets are in storage!

Grrrrrr....

Oh, wait!

Brrrrrr.....

Finally!

Well, Dad finally had the infamous heart cath today, and everything is fine!

Thank you, Jesus!

There was no blockage, so they did not have to do any other kind of procedure. He can go home tomorrow.

I'm so thankful. Ever since his knee replacement, he had been sounding so weak. While I was at home with them, and everytime I spoke with him on the phone, he always sounded as if he was half-asleep, almost. No energy at all.

It's kind of funny because since he's been in the hospital, he has sounded like a totally different person. Upbeat, energetic...how my dad is supposed to be! I know a lot of people were praying for him. I really believe the Lord touched him!

Thank you for your prayers!

All in a Day's Work

My little guard dog...


This sun sure does feel good...


Wanna kiss?


All tuckered out!

Christmas Traditions

OK, so I'm a little late on this one...

I love Christmas, too! I love the lights, the music, the smells, the cold weather...all of it! As far as traditions go...

*We really don't have any.

*Seriously.

*Since my schedule is so crazy this time of year at work, we are grateful for any time we get to carve out with our families.

*Hopefully, next year will be different!

Absolute Craziness!

Tell me if you don't think this is the craziest thing you've ever heard of...

Dad was put in a private room on Wednesday. Evidently, the VA hospital in Amarillo is not equipped to perform a heart cath, so they were going to medi-vac him to the Albequerque VA hospital to have that procedure done, then send him home. All they were waiting for was a bed to open up for him to go.

Keep in mind that if this were an emergency situation, they would take him three blocks down the road to the Baptist hospital, have the procedure done, then take him back to the VA.

But because this is not an emergency situation, they are going to medi-vac him to Albequerque for the duration of the test, then buy him a BUS TICKET home.

Oh, wait! Did I tell you that as of today, they still had no beds available in Albequerque? Yeah, so they are sending him to Tucson.

TUCSON, ARIZONA!!!!!

pDPFUJ4RLKTNMP["l;C,VLKFDGNAO;IP;/SLDAFDP'[DSL,MZCVO;WEAROGK;FLVJNZFDOG;A

Are you freaking kidding me?

At least he gets a plane ticket home instead of the bus.

And we wonder why we have a national debt of nine trillion dollars.

Update on Dad

Thank you for your prayers.

Dad is doing pretty well. His cardiac enzymes have decreased. The doctor thinks that he had the attack on Sunday. Right now he is still in ICU. They are going to do an ultrasound on his galbladder tomorrow to follow up on some backpain he was having, but other than that it is unclear what they are going to do next. There was talk about them doing a heart cath, but that's all I know right now. Dad is in good spirits, though. My sister said he is being his ornery (onery?) self, so that's good. He's just bored to tears.

This is a funny story for you...

When mom and dad went to the clinic in Lubbock Monday, they had no idea they would be going to Amarillo for an undetermined amount of time, so they had nothing...no overnight bag, change of clothes, or anything. So, Monday night my sister drove to my parents' house to pick some things up to take to them today. While my sister was there, she was talking with my aunt, who is staying at my parents' house.

A little background info: My dad, his sister Colene, and brother Roscoe, were all raised in a Christian home and went in the military when they were young adults. While I'm sure they all sowed some wild oats, my dad is the only one who came back to a full relationship with the Lord. He was in law enforcement for 16 years before surrendering to full time ministry, already married with two girls.

Now, back to the story, already in progress...

Colene was telling Stacy about how she had called Roscoe about Dad being in the hospital, the incident on Sunday, and all the details.

Roscoe: That happened on Sunday?
Colene: Yes.
Roscoe: While he was preaching?
Colene: Yes.
Roscoe: Did Judy (my mom) tell you about what happened?
Colene: No, I saw it.
Roscoe: You were there?
Colene: Yes.
Roscoe: At church?
Colene: Yes.
Pause
Roscoe: Well, Colene, that's why he had the heart attack!

I know, I know...I got it honest.
I come from smarty-pants-people.

Please Say a Prayer...

My dad hasn't been feeling well the past few days. He has gotten really weak when he stands up. Yesterday, he got up to preach and started feeling so bad he had to sit down to preach. I've never seen him do that. Mom said she knew something was wrong when his words started slurring.
They went to the VA clinic in Lubbock this morning, and through a series of tests, they found that his cardiac enzymes were "elevated" and strongly suggested he go to the emergency room. They went ahead and went to the VA hospital in Amarillo, where they continued some testing and put him in ICU. The doctor said his cardiac enzymes were extremely high and that if he hadn't already had a heart attack, he was well on his way to having one.
I think that they have him in ICU, not because, necessarily, that he is so critical, but so that they can monitor him and analyze what is the problem and how they will take care of it. I debated on whether I should go up there or what, but I think I'm going to wait and find out more information over the next day or two and see what happens.
Thank you for your prayers...I'll keep you "posted".

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas!!!

...or it's about to, anyway!

Tonight is holiday set-up night at the store! We will do our display windows, put up signs, string snowflakes from the ceiling...all that good stuff! Then the rest of this week we will be moving stuff around to bring all the holiday merchandise to the front of the store. It's going to look great, but it's a lot of work, too. I hope we can get it all done in the alotted time.

We did some of the prep work yesterday. From past years' experience, we've learned that if they say it takes one person 30 minutes to put something together, it usually means that it will take 2-3 people 45 minutes to get it together correctly! =)

Poor Dan came up to help me...he's sick of snowflakes. Thanks, babe!!!! You're the bestest!!!!

Attention CoffeeMate Fans

If you like flavored creamer for your coffee, HEB has some holiday inspired creamers!

A few that I saw were:
Pumpkin Spice
Chocolate Mint Truffle
Peppermint Mocha

I was a sucker and got the Almond Toffee....YUM. E.

I can't believe today is the first of November!!!! Yikes!

Hopefully, I'll see many of you at the get together tonight at 7PM...don't forget!!!